Manipulated Minds and Twisted Hearts
by Argentium Silverwing
Summary: Everyone has a past. No one is quite sure what happened to Link after he saved Hyrule, even he doesn't know. Zelda's cousin investigates, and discovers a chilling truth of a man haunted by the ghosts of his own foolishness


Another new story from Miss. Silverwing. Admittedly I have far too many stories to be keeping up with, but when I get a really good idea I don't want it to run away before I can get it down on paper. . . well, Microsoft word to be exact.  
  
~+*Argentium Silverwing*+~  
  
~*~*~  
  
"I love you."  
  
"And I love you." A smile and a brief meeting of lips. A sudden rapping on the door through which a woman stumbled in. She wailed a warning, some terrible news and a flash lit up the sky, illuminating the shadow of a tree. The haunting scene was framed by a grey, stormy sky. The boy was nailed by his hands and feet to the trunk of the oak. Sobs and screams filled the air as a circle of white robed figures moved in. The clouds released the rain, and through the mist the grey-green eyes that once told how much they loved were now devoid of emotion and empty, staring, staring. . . until engulfed by flame. . .  
  
*** Link woke with a start. His chest heaved, heart racing. He was bathed in a cold sweat. He sat up and looked about the dark room, waiting with baited breath for anything lurking in the shadows. After he was certain nothing stalked the darkness of his room, he sat up and poured himself a drink, sipping at the cold water.  
  
The dreams were getting worse.  
  
He took a deeper gulp and put down the cup. He got up to open the window, when a sound made him stop dead. A woman's sobs could be heard in the next room. Wondering who had broken in, Link walked out and opened the door to the room. Immediately the sound stopped. The room was completely empty. The window was wide open, the net curtains floating lazily in the breeze, their whiteness picking up the moonlight. Link walked across the room and shut the window.  
  
"Lucky escape." He muttered. The second the latch clicked shut, footsteps thundered down the landing. The former hero spun around with a growl. He did not take kindly to intruders. He reached the door just in time to see another at the end of the corridor slam shut.  
  
"Who's there?" He called. No reply. He marched up to the door and gripped the handle, pushing on it. The door was locked.  
  
"Bastard, locked it!" He hissed, grabbing the rusted old key of a dusty table, where it left a mark.  
  
~ 'It's always locked.'~ Said the little voice that resides in everybody's head.  
  
"I must have gone in there to get something earlier." Link dismissed the thought, justifying himself.  
  
~ 'You haven't been in that room for three years.'~ The voice whispered, sending shivers down his spine. In a slight daze from these words of his own conscience, he placed the key back on the table. It had been Rift's room. Everything left in its place and locked away.  
  
He stood and listened. All in the house was still. He made his way back to bed and closed his eyes tightly. The image of the grey green eyes haunted him until dawn as did the sobbing from the next door room.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"More grapes, Mya?"  
  
"No thank you, Zelda."  
  
Zelda sat opposite her second cousin at the garden table in the courtyard. She watched the white-haired women pour over a book, lost in thought. She was Zelda's father's cousin's daughter. A long-winded connection, but never the less, she was family. Myarta was the princess of Hyrule's neighbour, Elrudia.  
  
"Do you remember how as children, we used to play in the shallow water here." Zelda began, twirling a ringlet of blonde hair.  
  
"Mmm. . ." Mya acknowledged Zelda was speaking, sweeping aside a curtain of her own ice-white hair. She knew where this conversation was going; she didn't have the lilac eyes of a psychic for nothing.  
  
"We used to dream of our future husbands and having children . . ."  
  
"How dreams change, dear cousin." Mya smiled wryly, shutting the book just by looking at it.  
  
"Oh really, Mya!" Zelda said pathetically, "Why will you not take an eligible, handsome young Lord's hand in marriage and bear him sons or daughters to one day rule your land?"  
  
"Well I see you haven't!" Mya snapped. At once she felt she had been too harsh, and took on a kinder tone of voice. "You know very well that to preserve and improve my clairvoyance, I must not give into the desires of the flesh. I must not eat meat, must not consume wine, and most certainly cannot make the conversion from maiden to woman by losing my innocence. It all clouds my inner-eye."  
  
"If you ask me, it's your outer eyes that are clouded. They say you can tell a woman from a maiden by the way she walks, and it's far too obvious that you have only passed the stage of girl into maiden. Anyway, how are all your studies coming along?"  
  
A certain tension now lingered in the air between the two women. "Its fine, I've mastered Dream-weaving and reading, Spirit communication, Mind reading and Telekinesis."  
  
"Well, if you don't want your innocence scarred and want your inner-eye to remain intact, I suggest you don't go delving around in my mind." Zelda smiled cruelly, crossing her legs and leaning back. Mya was slightly affronted by this remark, and had it in her right mind to do precisely that, when a guard walked in.  
  
"Your highness, The Hero, Link is here as you asked."  
  
Zelda's eyes lit up and she clapped her white gloved hands together. "Oh, wonderful! Show him in!" She laughed. Mya grinned inwardly at her cousin's childish behaviour. She obviously was very fond of this man, either as a childhood friend or someone she quite fancied. The guard soon returned, followed by a man in a black tunic and black boots, with grey leggings. His blond hair shaded his face, brushing over his intense blue eyes and his firm mouth and chiselled jaw line were surrounded by a sandy stubble. He was rugged and devastatingly handsome. Mya felt her own stomach flutter and watched Zelda's face grow bright pink.  
  
"Mya, this is my old, childhood friend, Link! Hyrule's Hero of time."  
  
Mya nodded and Link gave a short bow. She noted the dark rings under his eyes. He sat heavily and waited for Zelda to offer him something. The princess's attention was all on him, she talked and talked and talked, endlessly offering cakes and drinks and fruit. Mya watched him with increasing interest. He was a very complex character; a dying fire was in his eyes. Once heroic, he'd always had something to do. He'd seen much, but done great things.  
  
Mya absent-mindedly let herself and her powers drop in too deeply and she started to see memories, flitting by quickly. But before she could shut them off she had seen a little too much. A ginger haired boy kicked mud into the face of the onlooker (these were Link's memories, so they were seen through his eyes.) A floating blue jellyfish wrapped painful tentacles around an arm. A long dragon flew through the air of a cave. A man with yellow eyes laughed. A pretty woman with brown hair nestled beneath his chin, wrapped in his arms. A pair of grey-green eyes stared emotionless and accusing. . .  
  
"MYA!" A voice screeched. Mya blinked and found herself toppled backwards, her back flat on the floor. Zelda looked irate, and Link moved forward to help her up.  
  
"What were you DOING?" Zelda's voice shook. Mya thought quickly. "I-I'm sorry Zelda, but do you remember me telling you that if someone who had done great things and been in contact with a part of the goddess's themselves came too close and I'd never met them before that sometimes it overwhelmed me?"  
  
"Yes, yes! But falling backwards and flashing your undergarments at our honoured guest is a great embarrassment!" Zelda flustered. Mya felt her face grow hot, and glanced at Link. He was hiding a smirk behind a tea cake, which he was trying hard to eat between sniggers. Zelda felt very strongly about Link, it was obvious to her cousin that she was trying to keep up appearances. Perhaps this is why Zelda had never wed.  
  
Link stayed with them for some time, never saying much even up to the time he left at mid afternoon. Zelda kept her eyes on him until he was completely out of sight. When she was sure he was completely gone she whipped back around, her hands clasped, her eyes bright and her smile from ear to ear.  
  
"Oh! He's wonderful isn't he? So handsome! And he's so brave!" She went off into her own little dream, while Mya thought about what she'd seen. She'd heard about and recognised most of the images conjured of his childhood and adventures, but the last two were a complete mystery. Infact, she was very curious about the last ten years since Ganondorf had been defeated. Where had life taken Link? Who was the woman? Obviously a loved one, but as far as Mya knew, Link had no one.  
  
"Zelda . . . what happened with Link after Ganondorf and everything. . .?"  
  
Zelda's misty eyes now grew clear and her face grim. "Oh." Was all she said for a few moments. After a minute's silence, she spoke. "Well, about two months later, Link met a lady at a ball I held. Beautiful woman, good friend of mine, she had helped me when I went into hiding for the seven years. She'd never met Link before and the second they laid eyes on each other they were a couple. They married and had a son."  
  
"Oh. . .so, how's the life going with them?"  
  
Zelda's face did not change. "You could probably tell that Link is a very troubled man. Three years ago it all ended."  
  
"Divorce?"  
  
"You could say that. One day they had news that the boy was in trouble, but the woman who told them was in no state to tell much she was so shocked. They went out on the field, and found the boy nailed to a tree. He died. Then it came out that it wasn't Link's child after all and an affair had been taking place the whole time. She was also a witch, so she was tied to the tree along with the bastard son and they burned her."  
  
Mya was unable to speak for a few minutes. "That's terrible." She whispered.  
  
"I know." Zelda's eyes had grown red and she wiped at them with a dignified sniff. "I never expected it of her; she was such a wonderful girl. I had no idea she was like that. Link, never recovered, and I suppose that's the bit that hurts everyone the most. He should be free of the torment, he should have moved on, but it still hurts to know she was unfaithful, and the son he so carefully raised wasn't even his." Zelda produced a handkerchief and blew her nose delicately, wiping her eyes again. "Beautiful girl, full of life, no one suspected."  
  
They sat in silence for a moment when Zelda suddenly looked at her second cousin. "Mya! You're interested in the study of the mind and how the past affects it, aren't you?"  
  
"You mean psychology?"  
  
"Yes! Maybe as a study, you could try to help Link! Yes! Help him! It would be so wonderful to see the passion in his eyes again! How could you help him?"  
  
Mya was a little apprehensive, she hadn't yet said yes, but already her cousin was asking how she could help! The cheek! However, such a noble man deserved her help, and she would. "Well, I'd have to talk to him about everything that happened. Talk about his life. Ask which aspects he remembers most and why he thinks that is. . ."  
  
"Oh, brilliant! Brilliant! Yes, that will help him a lot. Oh, Mya! You are a wonder! With your help he'll be happy again! I'll hold a feast in your honour!" Mya could see Zelda was prematurely happy, she'd set herself a goal of happiness, and Mya could not help herself apart from helping her to achieve it.  
  
"I promise you cousin; I will do everything in my power to help him."  
  
Zelda glided around the table, and knelt beside Mya's chair, taking her hand in her own. She looked up, her eyes brimming with tears. "Thank you, so much, on his behalf. It is time, to release him."  
  
~*~*~  
  
The boy's head slumped, his frightened eyes dimmed and closed. Racking sobs of his mother rang out across the desolate scene. "He isn't yours, Link." Whispered a voice. The grey green eyes turned to him, they flashed, the accusing glare returned, the tears froze on his cheeks. Those beautiful eyes he once loved where engulfed by flame.  
  
***  
  
"DASCANZA, NO!" Link snapped up, breathing heavily. He ran his fingers through his hair, screwing up his eyes to fight back the tears. The sobbing could still be heard in the next door room. Suddenly feeling enraged, Link surged from his bed. He walked out of his room and kicked open the door of the room where the sobs always came from. This time they didn't stop.  
  
"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Link roared. A shuddering sigh made him look. A pair of green eyes stared at him from the darkness. Fear gripped the man; he stumbled backwards into the wall. The glowing green shifted, turning its gaze directly on him.  
  
"Holy shit, no, no, no." Link stuttered, fumbling for a candle. He quickly produced a spark of din's fire, lighting up the room. A cat streaked out from the now lighted corner and jumped onto the windowsill. The tabby coated creature gave one last menacing glare, before leaping clear.  
  
"GO ON! GET OUT OF IT! STAY OUT! Bloody. . . yowling, animal. Sounds like sobbing, get a GRIP Link." He scorned himself, snapping the window shut and making sure it was completely secure. He walked out of the room and shut the door behind him, leaning against it. Heart still racing. He let out a deep breath and laughed at his own idiocy. How could he possibly think a cat's miaowing was somebody crying?  
  
Then an icy chill swept over him. He looked around; none of the windows on the landing were open, why the sudden cold?  
  
"Ooooh, no . . . why? No . . . ." A low moan uttered from behind the door on which he leant. He shook uncontrollably, as a fresh wave of sobs and cries sounded from the room.  
  
"My Baby, my little baby."  
  
Link felt his own tears hot on his face, as he remembered the voice and the reason behind it, before anger reminded him of the past that lingered. He slammed a fist on the door and the sounds stopped, before he stormed into his room and lay down in his bed. He shut his eyes forcefully, praying that he could just sleep. Sweet warmth took over then and he slowly relaxed, and he slept.  
  
The dreams of the boy and his mother persisted until he woke the next day to the sounds of sobbing from the room next door.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Ok, this is my first try. . . EVER at a Horror/Mystery thingy, It's actually quite difficult and it really isn't scary! Lol. I try, I try. . . so reviews are open for the points of suggestions and help, and maybe even PRAISE!! *Nudge* Seeya! 


End file.
